1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a broiler for cooking hamburger patties, and relates more particularly to a double pass, double conveyor broiler apparatus and method for cooking relatively larger hamburger patties.
2. Description of the Relevant Art
Broilers capable of efficiently cooking large numbers of hamburger patties weighing four ounces or less are in common use. Such broilers typically include a belt conveyor and two burner units, with one burner placed above and the other burner placed below the conveyor. In operation, uncooked meat patties are placed on the conveyor, which transports the patties past the two burners.
Such single conveyor broilers perform adequately when cooking relatively small patties weighing four ounces or less, but problems arise when attempting to cook relatively large patties weighing perhaps six or eight ounces. When large patties are cooked, they tend to shrink in diameter and bulge in the center. As a result, the center of large patties cooked on conventional broilers are underdone, even raw in the center. Also, the overhead burner causes the edges of the large patties to curl upward, which traps grease in the center of the patties and overcooks the edges. Thus, such conventional broilers are not able to achieve a quality cooking job on relatively large hamburger patties.